Monday, May 25, 2009

This is a cute commercial with a play on the words "budget" and "dollars" that really makes this ad entertaining and light hearted.

To learn more about advertising, see this book (click image):

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To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

This is a short and long version of the Chanel 5 perfume commercial with Audrey Tatou.

This is an Audrey Tatou interview in relation to the commercial.

This is Chanel 5 perfume (click image):

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To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

Recently, the company announced that its profitability has improved. The company's first quarter 2009 financial results improvement included:

1Q09 Deferred Revenue was RMB176.63 million (US$ 25.84 million) increased 57.63% for the three-months ended December 31, 2008 as compared to RMB112.05 million (US$ 15.36 million) for the same period last year.

1Q09 Total Operating Expenses for the three-months ended December 31, 2008 were RMB39.96 million (US$5.85 million) decreased 15.0% as compared with RMB 47.01 million (US$6.44 million) reported for the same period in 2007.

Company CEO was quoted as saying "Our positive trends we saw in FY08 are carrying into FY09. Q109 demonstrated these positive growth trends. We expect to remaining quarters to show similar growth trends.

The strength of our renewed product portfolio and our long-term, technology-based solutions are meeting the demands of a growing market opportunity. We had two good quarters, and we continue to press on toward more advanced agricultural technologies, we are determined to drive improved performance going forward."

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To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

*President Barack Obama warned overeager shoppers and greedy credit card companies alike on Friday to act responsibly as he signed into law a bill designed to protect debt-ridden consumers from surprise charges.

*Ford Motor Co. said it is giving its hourly workers five more weeks to decide whether they want to accept the company's buyout and early retirement offers.

*Federal regulators on Friday adopted a new system of special fees paid by U.S. financial institutions that will shift more of the burden to bigger banks to help replenish the deposit insurance fund.

*A federal appeals court on Friday agreed with the major elements of a 2006 landmark ruling that found the top U.S. tobacco companies guilty of racketeering and fraud for deceiving the public about the dangers of smoking.

*The U.S. government could eventually own a majority stake in GMAC Financial Services following its latest $7.5 billion aid package to the ailing auto financing company.

*In the U.S. shareholders have yet to vote down a single executive pay plan at U.S. companies and only a handful of corporate directors have lost investor backing. Support for corporate management and executive pay is still the status quo.

*In the U.S. the number of people who are continuing to receive jobless benefits rose to nearly 6.7 million from about 6.6 million, the Labor Department said. That's the highest total on records dating to 1967 and the 16th straight weekly record.

*The Federal Reserve expects the economy to improve in coming months, even as policymakers downgraded their outlook for all of 2009 and said the unemployment rate could approach 10 percent.

*President Barack Obama is asking consumers to put their money -- up to $1,300 per new vehicle by 2016 -- behind his plan for higher efficiency standards for cars and trucks and tougher rules on their greenhouse gas emissions.

Drivers would make up the higher cost of more fuel-efficient, cleaner vehicles by buying less gas at the pump. It would take just three years to pay off the investment and would, over the life of a vehicle, save about $2,800 though better gas mileage, the president said.

*The justices of the U.S. Supremem Court said Monday they will consider a constitutional challenge to the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley law from pro-business conservatives, who complained that the board established to oversee the accounting industry violates the constitutionally mandated separation of powers.

Market Analysis

This is a chart of the CBOE Volatility Index or VIX which is often referred to as the fear index, as it represents one measure of stock investors' expectation of volatility over the next 30 day period. A high value for VIX represents higher volatility in the market and vice versa.

VIX has been falling since October last year which means that the market sentiment has somewhat stabilised although economic fundamentals are still weak. Stock investors seem to feel that the economy will recover even though it is currently still in a recession.

VIX is currently at 32.63 which is at the higher end of its historical trading range of 20 to 30. Recently it has shown some strength with three consecutive days of finishing higher than open.

The MACD has finished above its trigger which is a bullish signal, however, from now on it will be interesting to see whether, it will continue to move upwards (meaning that investors expect higher market volatility), or it was simply a temporary move upwards and resume its downward trend.

Next take a look at the chart of S&P 500 Index above.

The index has moved below its 20 day moving average which is bearish, however it is still above its 40 day moving average.

The MACD or blue line, has moved below its trigger or the red line and this is bearish. However it is still above 0.

Also the Slow Stochastic has moved below its trigger which is bearish and it is nearing the low end of its range.

So the S&P 500 Index is showing indications of a bearish phase in the market at the moment. However, it is not sure yet whether the market is at the beginning of a strong downtrend to reverse the rally experienced over the past two months or is just undergoing a temporary correction.

However, despite negative company earnings and weak economic fundamentals, overall, the stockmarket has been quite resilient and as the VIX shows, investors seem to be quite hopeful that eventually the U.S. and world economy will recover out of the current recession.

To learn more about trading, have a look at this book (click image):

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To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

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To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

Shabby chic style consists of items such as furniture, that are often painted with many layers giving a worn out look. The style is imitated in Faux Painting using glaze or by painting then rubbing and sanding away the top coat to show the wood or base coats.

Shabby chic styled fabrics tend to be cottons and mostly linens, inspired by old French linens. Floral patterns are popular along with whites and pastel colours in various shades. Fabric is often stained with tea to give it the look of old fabric. So the shabby chic style is synonymous with bleached and faded effects.

The essence of shabby chic style is vintage and antique furniture painted white and /or pastels and distressed at the corners by sanding. Pink, mint green, and soft aqua are also popular colors seen in accessories and fabrics.

Popular interior decor items are pillows and bed sheets made of vintage barkcloth fabric, vintage linens, vintage furniture covers, floral patterned curtains, vintage chandeliers, and anything with roses on it. It is a soft, relaxed feminine romantic way of decorating that looks relaxed and inviting.

These are some pictures of the shabby chic style.

These are Shabby Chic books (click images):

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To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

Remember to sign up for future updates by filling in your email address and also please subscribe to the RSS feed.

To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

Remember to sign up for future updates by filling in your email address and also please subscribe to the RSS feed.

To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

Remember to sign up for future updates by filling in your email address and also please subscribe to the RSS feed.

To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

Remember to sign up for future updates by filling in your email address and also please subscribe to the RSS feed.

To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.